With a new movie, a popular TV show, and a loving fiancé, Ali Larter is taking a big ole bite out of life. The feisty star chats about being happier than ever.

Ali Larter is coming off a very long
night. "I was up until 6 a.m.," she says,
stifling a yawn. "I had dirt all over me,
twigs in my hair, and blood and scrapes
covering my face."

No, Ali didn't get into a scuffle with a
wild animal — she was shooting nighttime
scenes for NBC's Heroes, on which
she plays Tracy Strauss, a genetically
modified triplet coming to terms with
her unique gifts. (Ali spent the past two
seasons playing Niki and Jessica Sanders,
two of Tracy's siblings.)

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And though she's understandably
wiped out, she certainly doesn't look it.
There's not a dark circle in sight, and her
long blond hair appears to be freshly
blown out. She's dressed in a beige Dolce
& Gabbana pencil skirt, a fitted white
tank top, 5-inch black platforms, and
diamond earrings. "I'm a big fan of glamour,"
she says. "It's something I don't
think there's enough of in Hollywood
anymore. I enjoy putting on a sexy dress
and heels. I want to work it."

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While her character is undergoing
somewhat of an identity crisis, Ali, at
32, has reached a confident, peaceful
place. "I'm figuring out how to
enjoy the fruits of my labor," she
says. "I'm making a conscious effort
to slow it all down."

And given the fact that she's spent
the past several months filming long
hours on Heroes and the upcoming
flick Obsessed, with Idris Elba and
Beyoncé Knowles, she's due for some
downtime. "I'm in a stage where I feel
like I need to retrain my mind, because
since the beginning of my career,
I've been such a fighter and a
little hustler and someone who just
tried to stay afloat in this business."

Ali's résumé has grown considerably
since she first came to Hollywood.
Long gone are the days when
she was known simply as the girl in
the whipped-cream bikini in 1999'sVarsity Blues. After appearing in several
movies (Legally Blonde, A Lot
Like Love, and Resident Evil: Extinction)
and starring in a TV show, the
former teen model has hit her stride...
and not just professionally.

In December 2007, Ali got engaged
to actor Hayes MacArthur, whom she
met on the set of National Lampoon's
Homo Erectus. "Since I
was 15 years old, all I
wanted was to find the guy
I was going to marry," she
says. "My heart got broken
so many times because
I put so much pressure
on it. And then…I
got blindsided. [Hayes]
showed me the way, and
all was right. This is how
it's supposed to be."

It's clear the engagement
has had a calming
effect on Ali. "I've been
in a lot of fiery relationships,
and it is so exciting,"
she admits. "But
there's a more profound
feeling when the love is
just real and not so painful."

Even Hollywood's abysmal marriage
statistics can't dampen Ali's optimism.
"You know it's right when you
feel this undeniable connection and
chemistry," she says. "But to sustain
a marriage for 50 years, you have to
get real a little bit and find someone
who is understanding and who you
can grow with....My mom always says,
'Marry the man who loves you a millimeter
more,' " she says, laughing.

"I'm a hopeless romantic," says Ali.
"I love true love, and I'm a woman
who wants to be married for a lifetime.
That traditional life is something
that I want. It may be unconventional
[in Hollywood], but we're
going to do the best we can to keep
the unit together." Ironically, in Obsessed,
she actually causes strife in
Beyoncé's character's marriage by
playing the other woman. ("Beyoncé
and I have a huge fight sequence,"
says Ali. "We really go at each other.
It was hysterical.")

When asked how she and her future
husband will deal with the threat
of infidelity, Ali responds: "There has
to be a deeper desire to want [a committed
relationship]. It's much easier
to cheat than it is to be loyal. Everyone
goes through down times. You just
don't put yourself in those situations,
you know? Come on!"

Ali attributes her frankness to her
Cherry Hill, New Jersey, upbringing.
"There's a directness and a feistiness
to being from Jersey," she says. "That,
to me, is sexy and fun." And it's also
made Ali what she calls a liver—always
up for going to sporting events, to
plays, or out with her core group of
girlfriends. "I like to fly by the seat of my pants," she says, gesturing excitedly
with her hands and nearly knocking
her fork to the floor. "If I have a
day off, I want to get on a plane and
go to Paris! If I have a couple hours
off work, I want to run to the market
and make a four-course meal. I like to
do things that are unexpected."

As the interview draws to a close, Ali
muses on the state of her life. "I work
on a TV show I love, I have the opportunity
to do movies with actors I
respect, and I'm in love with the man
I want to spend the rest of my life with,
who pushes me and excites me," she
says with a grin that's sparkling almost
as brightly as her sizable emerald-cut
engagement ring. "There's this fighter
in me that kind of needs to be put to
rest a little bit. I don't need to be so
tough to protect myself."